Deadline: 15 June 2020
The EIT Food has launched ‘Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA)’ Programme with training, mentoring, business coaching and networking opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector.
EWA aims to reinforce female leadership and wants to support women with ideas or startups in initial phases in the agrifood sector. It targets especially at rural areas with difficult access to other business incubation programmes or training. EWA will be implemented it in Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Romania and Turkey.
The objective of this programme is to motivate early stage female entrepreneurs to harness their power, understand their innate ability to succeed and overcome any obstacles, equip them with the appropriate knowledge,confidence and networks to successfully start and develop sustainable businesses.
Up to 50 women entrepreneurs from countries with modest to moderate innovation rates will participate, during 6 months, in an educational programme tailored for female-specific challenges regarding entrepreneurship. After this training period, they will have the required knowledge, confidence and support to meet and exceed their aspirations, leading them to successfully start and develop sustainable businesses.
The programme, which will be developed from July to December and will be entirely free, includes tailor-made online and face-to-face training (the final details will depend on the evolution of the Covid-19 health crisis). In addition, mentoring will be offered by female experts in business and agrifood as well as by other successful entrepreneurs. It will include both women that have an idea to materialize, and those who have already created a startup and are taking their first steps. The workshops, as well as the different actions, are driven by professional women.
The third aspect of the programme is the creation of a community through events and a network with over 100 female entrepreneurs and mentors in the sector, as well as access to contacts from diverse fields such as investment, technology, corporate or other contacts from the net of the European consortium.
Impact
- 50 women will be upskilled on how to start their agrifood business and be successful; receiving personalised mentoring, training and becoming part of the big EIT Food community.
- Standardized tools and materials to educate females with entrepreneurial talent in RIS regions will be developed so that the programme can scale in future years.
- Overcome the existing gender gap in the agrifood sector with a special impact in rural areas: promoting inclusivity and diversity between business founders, and increase female founded startups.
Stages
- Education: 6 months of tailor-made free online and presential trainings and access to resources to improve your skills.
- Mentorship/Ongoing Support: Personalised mentoring, both online and face-to-face from experts in business, agrifood and successful entrepreneurs.
- Community building: Participation in entrepreneurship and networking events with high-level stakeholders and direct access to over 100 mentors and female entrepreneurs within the agrifood ecosystem
- Access to finance: Beneficiaries will have the chance to win up to 10,000 euros per country, discover other EIT Food programmes and access investors, business angels and corporatives to take their businesses to the next level.
Funding Information
- The ground-breaking programme, EWA, includes support, training and personalized mentoring for six months, as well as prizes up to 10,000 euros.
Eligibility Criteria
- Women entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector from RIS regions.
For more information, visit https://www.eitfood.eu/regional-innovation-scheme/projects/women-entrepreneurs-in-agrifood